Bengaluru’s neighbourhood bar got an update!

Before your first pour, pay attention to what surrounds you at Bar Sama

15 May 2026

There’s a certain thrill in visiting places that at first glance seem still and moody in demeanour. But spend more time lingering around, trying to find your favourite nook, that stillness soon turns performative, almost like a palpable movement that guides the sight around — close and deeper into the details. At Bengaluru’s latest cocktail bar, Bar Sama, the design directive seems to rest on the theatre of colour and material dynamism.

Take a step in, and find the 50-seater room oscillate between deep charcoal hues, botanical murals, electric blue tones by the bar, ochre tones on the floor, sculptural lighting and tall windows framed in wood shutters. “We wanted the design to unfold not as one room, but as an inner and outer core with a series of nooks and alcoves inviting closeness and conversations,” says Pronoti Chabbi of Studio Grain, who envisioned the 1,800 sq ft Bar Sama alongside entrepreneur Pratheek Reddy and Singapore’s Cat Bite Club.

“We wanted the design to unfold not as one room, but as an inner and outer core with a series of nooks and alcoves inviting closeness and conversations"

Pronoti Chabbi of Studio Grain

Somewhere between a retro member’s club and a new-age drinking hideaway, the bar carries a play of dual identities, transitioning fluently from day to night, from nostalgia to the present. Looking closer, one wall comes to life with an abstract silhouette of a face illustrated as a telling metaphor for exchange, a routine that dallys between shared drinks and conversations. But what really inspires a cocktail bar that exists in the deep grips of the city that’s long been home to the past era’s classic pubs and bars. “The inspiration comes from Bangalore itself — then and now. The outer core, a day-space, reflects the garden city’s old soul of warmth and familiarity framed by Ulsoor’s vistas dotted with trees. The inner core represents present-day Bangalore: bold, urban, energetic and experimental,” muses Pronoti, who worked with her team, Mary Ann George, Niharika N.

Points of movement here are guided by rather surprising, almost meditative visuals. While one part of the space is punctuated with a black cement facade and wooden shutters, elsewhere indoors, the bar rests as a canvas of deep tones — charcoal, cobalt, reds and shadows cast by the dim lights. On the outer core, the backdrop rests awash in dusty blues, vibrant greens and caresses of wooden accents. Tones of amber emerge as a bridge between these two sentiments, exuding a warm neutrality, mirrored on wood and burl finishes, liquor bottles and swathes of fabric. “The sculptural bottle display subtly defines the bar and acts as a screen that filters amber light and frames the space,” adds Pronoti.

With an assembly of witty cocktail concoctions anchoring the mood of the bar, think Pulp Friction, Velvet Eclipse, Billy’s Remedy and Pear Pressure, Bar Sama asks you to dance between two worlds within one universe.